A/N This is the second story in my Time Travel Changes Everything universe. The list of stories in this universe and the recommended reading order is available at the bottom of my profile for anyone who needs it.

Here we go, the sequel to Steven Anthony Stark! Yay! It's not absolutely necessary to have read that story, but I would recommend it.

However, if you haven't read it and don't want to, here are the basics of that story that you need to know (skip over the following paragraph if you've already read Steven Anthony Stark).

IF YOU HAVE NOT READ MY STORY STEVEN ANTHONY STARK PLEASE READ THIS:

The main thing you need to know is that Steve is Tony's son. Due to some freak, accidental time travel he ended up back in the forties where he became Captain America. The main events of Captain America: The First Avenger, Iron Man 1 and 2, and The Avengers are pretty much the same until the end of The Avengers when Steve noticed that Loki's eye color was different after he got slammed into the floor by the Hulk. They figured out that Loki was being controlled by the tesseract the same way Clint was, and Loki wasn't responsible for his actions on Earth. That story ended with all the Avengers and Loki leaving Earth via the tesseract teleportation device and appearing on Asgard.

This story basically picks up where the last one ended.

Now you're all caught up! So, enjoy!

P.S. Thank you to everyone who continually reviewed this story's predecessor! You guys are awesome and I hope you will enjoy the sequel as much as the first one! :)

Return

The chains hanging from Loki's wrists jangled as he walked beside his brother toward the palace of Asgard. The tesseract had landed the two of them and the five Avengers on the rainbow bridge, just outside the partially repaired bifrost dome.

He was finally free of the tesseract's all encompassing control and the relief he felt at having his mind and will returned to him was great. But as great as his relief was, his shame rivaled it. He had been through much during the year between when he had fallen from the bifrost and when he had appeared on Earth, but regardless of what had happened to him, he should have been strong enough to keep himself from being overtaken by the tesseract.

If he had been stronger, none of what happened on Earth would have transpired. But he had been weak, just like he had been told his whole life. He had never been as strong as Thor. He had never been as good as Thor. He was the small brother. The one who got thoroughly trounced by anyone he tried to fight. He was the weak one who chose magic and tricks rather than bravery and brute strength.

His whole life he had denied those things, mentally as well as vocally. He had striven to prove everyone wrong in any way he could, but no matter what he did, all he succeeded in doing was proving everyone right. The year after his fall had shown him beyond a doubt just how weak he truly was. It had shoved it in his face and forced him to accept the truth.

His humiliation was great and it seemed the tesseract was determined to make his shame complete as he was forced to walk, chained for all to see, all the way to the palace from the rainbow bridge. Because, of course, the tesseract couldn't just make them appear in the palace and save Loki the degrading journey.

Loki glanced over at Thor (who was reluctantly holding the chain that led from Loki's shackled wrists as they walked) and felt his tangled emotions rise up in him. The year he had been gone, his family had been what had kept him going. For all the insults and slights he had received from his brother growing up, all the teasing and even the bullying from Thor's friends, for all the time he had spent in Thor's shadow, he hated his brother... and yet, he loved his brother. He had always looked up to Thor and aspired to be like him. And it hadn't been all bad, they had had some good moments in their lives, moments when Thor was a good brother and showed he truly cared.

It was the same with his parents. Odin had always favored Thor, had always related to him better. He had always looked down on Loki for his physical deficits and even had punished him for his trickery. In Odin's eyes, Thor was always perfect and Loki was always the disappointment. And yet, there had been times when Odin would let his kingly persona drop and simply be Loki's father. They had been extremely rare, but in those moments, Loki had always felt that his father really loved him. Then Odin would go back to being a regal king and Loki would wonder if he had imagined his father's love.

Frigga was better. She, at least, had actually loved him. He was sure of that. She had been the better parent, teaching him the majority of his magic, but she hadn't been perfect. She had never tried to call Thor on his teasing and bullying. She never stood up for him in the face of Odin's wrath. She had never publicly been on his side. Only when they were alone did she show her support. But even with those deficits, he had never felt unloved by her.

Now, though, he understood why Odin had favored Thor over him and why Frigga had never stood up for him. He wasn't really their son. They couldn't possibly love him, a child not only not truly theirs, but the child of one of their oldest enemies, as much as their own blood child.

And that was the biggest and deepest hurt. They had lied to him. His whole life, they had never told him of his true parentage. It was bad enough that he was adopted, but he wasn't even from Asgard. He was a Frost Giant, one of the most despised and feared enemies of Asgard and he had been left to die. Not even his own people had wanted him and Odin had only taken him for possible political purposes.

Loki hated them. He hated the parents that had lied to him and he hated the brother that had looked down on him.

If only that was where it ended.

He also loved them. The mother who taught him his magic; the brother who had once played with him and, at times, had been there for him; and the father who, on rare occasions, had been his father, had taught him wisdom and even some magic, and who had rescued him from certain death and raised Loki as his own.

That was where it all became so complicated. He hated them, he wanted to hate them, and it was so easy to hate them, but he also loved them and loving them was so much harder, and so much more painful. He didn't know how it was possible to feel both. His emotions were all so tangled and raw thanks to the tesseract, and he didn't know how to sort it all out.

He was brought out of his thoughts as they finally reached the end of the rainbow bridge and began to see groups of people. Now would come the humiliation and scathing looks as he was returned home in chains. He fixed his eyes ahead, gritted his teeth and prepared himself for it, but to his great surprise, before they reached the populated area, Thor sent an imploring look over his shoulder at the other Avengers and the five of them moved forward, two in front, two behind, and one on Loki's right while Thor remained on his left. Together, the six of them surrounded Loki and all but blocked his chained wrists from sight.

The action relieved Loki but also irritated him as he felt gratitude toward the five Midgardians and his brother. He didn't want to feel grateful to any of them, least of all Thor, and yet he did.

It was frustrating beyond belief, as all of his emotions were since being released from the tesseract. It seemed being free of the tesseract by no means made everything fine again. On the contrary, it only made things more complicated.

Loki made it to the palace with most of what little dignity he had left, intact and was led to the throne room. The Avengers separated and resumed their places behind Thor and Loki as the doors began to open.

Loki took a deep breath and kept his eyes straight ahead as Thor glanced at him with an apologetic expression before resignedly walking forward, leading Loki into the throne room. It took all of Loki's will to keep his gaze forward and his head up as he walked into the room full of spectators.

Unfortunately, keeping his gaze forward had him looking at the throne and the parents he hadn't seen in a year. He wanted to look anywhere but at Odin who was sitting on the throne, and Frigga who was standing next to him, but Loki's pride would not let him avert his eyes once they met Odin's. If one of them was going to look away first, Loki was bound and determined that it wouldn't be him.

As he, Thor, and The Avengers made the agonizingly long walk through the spacious hall amid the judging stares of the spectators, Loki violently forced all of his mixed up and turbulent emotions deep down and locked them away. Now was the time to be stone faced with his head held high and show no emotions whatsoever. The only way he could do that was to feel no emotion whatsoever. He honestly didn't know how long he could hold himself in that place of cool and calm apathy, but he resolved to stay there for as long as possible. Apathy was simpler and easier to deal with, especially in front of so many people. The last thing Loki was going to do was let his thoughts and emotions be laid bare for all to see. Come what may, he would retain as much dignity as he could.

The group finally made it to the bottom of the steps leading up to the throne and the chain Thor was holding was taken by a guard and Thor was forced to reluctantly step back and to the side with the other Avengers. Once they were out of the way, a second guard came forward and struck Loki on the back of his knees, forcing him to his knees before Odin.

Loki had been expecting it, but he hadn't expected to see Thor, out of the corner of his eye, step forward as if to challenge the action. Once again he forced himself to ignore it, focusing on why he hated Thor, which actually seemed to help. Perhaps if he did the same with his so called parents, he could get through this without showing any weakness.

"Loki Odinson, you are here to face the consequences of your crimes," Odin began, but before he could continue, Thor finally could contain himself no longer and stepped forward.

"Father, Loki is innocent of what happened on Midgard. He was being controlled by the tesseract," Thor said, causing many murmurs to pass through the room at the unexpected declaration.

"Is this true?" Frigga asked her youngest son, hope shining in her eyes.

The look on her face and hearing her voice again after so long nearly undid Loki, but he resolutely forced his mind away from his love for her, and his grudging gratitude toward his brother for standing up for him, and one by one, thought of every reason he had for hating the three people he called family. It wasn't too hard with Thor and it was downright easy with Odin but it was much harder with Frigga. Still, he managed to find a few small things to be hurt and angry over and pushed all other memories of her away as he remained silent and refused to meet her gaze. Odin quickly lost his patience with Loki's refusal to answer and rose to his feet.

"Speak!" he barked, thumping Gungnir loudly against the floor, causing Loki to flinch ever so slightly.

Yes, it was downright easy with Odin.

"It's true, Your Majesty," Steve said, stepping forward. "We all saw the evidence of it ourselves."

"Even if that is true, that only absolves his actions on your planet. That does not alleviate him of his responsibility for his crimes here," Odin said. "What say you of this?" he asked Loki.

"Father-" Thor began.

"Silence! I would hear your brother speak for himself," Odin said to Thor before turning to Loki. "What do you have to say in your defense?"

The question turned his mind back to his tesseract induced actions and his anger quickly turned back into shame. What did he have to say? What could he say? After what he had done, did he even have the right to defend himself? It was all his fault. He should have been stronger. He should have fought harder. But he had been weak. Even if he did deserve to defend himself, to explain, there wasn't much he could say. The "it wasn't my fault. I was mind-controlled" line sounded false even to him. So, instead, he said nothing, too ashamed to even look the man he once called Father, in the eye. Better to just accept his punishment and start paying for his weakness.

"Very well. If you insist on remaining silent, then your memories will speak for you," Odin said, coming to stand in front of Loki, towering over the kneeling trickster and reaching a hand toward him.

Loki looked up in shock, knowing what was coming.

"Wait! No," he whispered in horror, panic closing his throat, but his whisper didn't stop the hand from gently cupping his cheek as the entire throne room disappeared.

)()()(

Loki was no longer kneeling on the floor. He was standing amid an inky blackness where the throne room had been moments before. He didn't have to look around to know where he was.

No. No. No. No. No.

The word repeated over and over in Loki's mind. He couldn't be there, anywhere but there. A voice spoke up, reminding Loki that he wasn't the only one present.

"Where are we?" Thor asked as he, his parents, the Avengers, and the Asgardian spectators all looked around at the darkness.

"We are in Loki's memories," Odin answered.

Loki's breathing started to come quicker. He couldn't do this. He couldn't face his memories in just his own mind, let alone face them tangibly playing out before him while his family, the Avengers, and a room full of people all watched along.

Not only that, but this was done with magic, and the magic was designed to enhance his memory. The gaps he was missing would be filled in, the recollections that were vague and cloudy due to pain and fatigue would be sharpened and brought into focus. If he couldn't bare to indulge his memories while they were tainted by time and imperfection how was he to endure the remastered version.

And as if that wasn't bad enough, although the sights, feelings, and emotions of the memories would be muted and distant, they were still there and they would remain, for all present to see and sense them. Even the thoughts he had had in his memories would be fair game in this journey through his very real nightmares.

"Please," he said, turning to Odin as fear overrode his pride and anger. "Please, stop this."

"I am sorry, My Son. You know as well as I do, this is a spell that, once started, must complete on its own," Odin replied sadly, at the stricken look on his youngest son's face.

"You can stop it," Loki argued.

"Not without risking damage to your mind," Odin replied.

"That is a risk I am willing to take," Loki said.

"I, however, am not," Odin said. "I will not risk hurting you, My Son."

He was about to be laid bare to all and he hated Odin for that. But there was still that incessant part of him that whispered that Odin couldn't possibly know the pain Loki's memories held for him. Loki angrily told that part of himself to shut up.

"Loki, what is it that you are so worried we will see?" Thor asked.

Loki swallowed thickly before looking back at the darkness.

"It's not what you will see, that I'm worried about," he whispered.

For the moment, it was as if the memory was paused, waiting for someone to start it, and it was coming. Loki could feel it. Any second it would begin.

Sure enough, the room suddenly became the white-dotted black of space and almost seemed to move around them as the view slid through space and zeroed in on a small asteroid.

Loki sucked in a sharp breath as the being who haunted his thoughts and dreams came into view.

"Thanos," he whispered.

The titan stood on the asteroid, holding a certain blue jewel that glowed an ethereal blue, with The Other standing just behind him.

This was something Loki didn't remember.

With a jolt, he realized it must have been something transmitted to his subconscious by the tesseract. The way the tesseract worked, there could be any number of horrible things in Loki's subconscious that he had no knowledge or memory of, and now Odin's magic was pulling anything it thought relevant from Loki's mind. Loki couldn't even handle his conscious memories, and it was very possible the things the tesseract had left dormant in his subconscious were capable of driving a person insane. Loki shuddered at the thought. He could only imagine what was lurking in the depths of his mind, and if consciously subjected to it, he wasn't entirely sure he could survive it.

"Find me who I need," Thanos whispered to the jewel.

The gem began to glow and spin in Thanos' hand, before lifting up off his hand and floating forward to hover in the air. Thanos watched as it spun faster and faster until, all at once, it froze in midair.

"It has found our potential ally," Thanos announced.

"But you said he would likely be unwilling. Surely the jewel alone cannot force his help from this distance," The Other said.

"No, but it can play on his emotions. His pain, his anger, his fear. It can twist them, amplify them. It can whisper in the back of his mind and give him the... guidance he needs. All he needs is a push."

He stepped forward and whispered to the jewel once again.

"Give him his push."

The gem started spinning again. After a moment, a high-pitched whine sounded from the jewel before a wave of blue energy surged outward from it and shot off into space, disappearing in the distance.

The scene in the throne room suddenly changed to one Loki found familiar: his chambers. The spectators watched as Loki, not the real one watching along with everyone else, but a well-groomed, well-dressed, and much more innocent looking Loki entered the chambers. He seemed so much different than the Loki The Avengers knew. This Loki, although only a year younger than the real Loki, looked so much younger somehow, much less burdened and haunted, with eyes that had not yet seen so much pain and atrocity.

The younger Loki was dressed in all his finery and, as he began going about what looked to be typical actions; removing his helmet and placing it on a table before removing his cape and draping it on his spacious bed; the real Loki finally remembered when the memory had taken place, and it finally began to make since to the trickster as to why they were being shown the, so far, innocuous scene.

"When was this?" Thor asked.

"A few days before your coronation, just after the rehearsal," Loki answered, loud enough for all to hear.

Thor remembered that time well. It was just before everything had changed. Just before he had lost his little brother.

"Why are we being shown this?" Tony asked, not seeing the relevance.

Loki didn't have to answer as, in the memory, a glint could be seen out of one of the windows. As it drew closer, it caught the attention of everyone watching, but went unseen by the memory Loki, who was in the process of adjusting one of the bracers on his arms.

After a second, the glint had grown close enough to be recognizable as the blue wave that had emitted from the jewel in the previous scene. The watchers had but moments to register the fact before the wave passed right through the walls and into the chambers, washing over the younger Loki.

The wave had effected nothing else, passing through so unnoticed by the surroundings as to almost be able to be called harmless. However, it did effect one thing; Loki. The Loki in the scene obviously felt the wave as it almost seemed to slam into him. He stumbled back several steps and swayed dangerously. He reached out and grabbed a nearby table to try to steady himself, but his arm gave out and he collapsed to the ground, his eyes unfocused before they fluttered closed, leaving him lying on the floor unconscious.

It was just minutes later that bleary green eyes opened and he blinked sluggishly. After a moment, he slowly sat up, swaying dizzily before regaining his balance. He looked dazed and a bit confused as he realized he had awakened on the floor.

It took a minute for Loki's mind to clear enough for him to remember feeling like he had been struck and then passing out. He quickly looked around for any sign of an assailant but relaxed upon finding nothing amiss. Then he slowly climbed to his feet. The fact that he had seemingly passed out for no apparent reason concerned him and he resolved to go to the healers and have them check him over in case there was something wrong with him.

That's exactly what they'll think if you go to them, a voice whispered at the back of his mind, causing Loki to pause.

Where had that thought come from?

Your whole life, everyone has looked down on you. Insulted you, their words saying you're weak, their eyes saying something is wrong with you. Go to the healers and they'll all just have more reason to call you weak.

That brought Loki up short. If he went to the healers and there was nothing wrong, as he felt sure there wasn't, he would look like some weak kneed woman who randomly fell down in a dead faint.

Just like that, Loki changed his mind and resolved to not tell anyone about what had happened, all the while believing the idea to be his own. He never noticed the reflection of his green eyes in the mirror as they glinted blue for a brief moment.

A/N Well? What do you guys think so far? Any good? Let me know! :)

BTW, just to let you guys know, the updating schedule for this story will be one chapter every Friday afternoon. So, until next Friday! :)